A. Jesus told His followers to “wait” “watch” and “be ready” for His Coming, and they did: Matt. 24:42 Keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. Matt. 24:44 Be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him. 1 Cor. 1:8 You eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed. Phil. 3:20-21 We eagerly await a Savior from [heaven], the Lord Jesus Christ 1 Thes. 1:9-10 You turned to God… to wait for his Son from heaven Tit. 2:13 We wait for the blessed hope, the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.
James 5:7-9, Be patient, then, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. Stand firm, because the Lord’s coming is near.
1 Peter 1:13-14 Set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. 1 John 2:28 And now, continue in [Christ], so that when he appears we may be confident and unashamed before him at his coming. Many other passages could be added to those nine.
B. Yet, 3 times in His main prophetic sermon, Jesus strongly implied His Return might not be for “a long time.” Matt. 24:48 The wicked servant says to himself, ‘My master is staying away a long time’. Matt. 25:5 The bridegroom was a long time in coming. Matt. 25: 19 After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them.
C. Also our Lord Jesus and His apostles foretold the following would occur Before His Return:
1) “The gospel must first be preached to all nations” (Mark 13:10). It would be “preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come” (Matthew 24:14; v. 3 shows that “the end” He spoke of was “the end of the age”–this present age). Worldwide evangelization must occur before His return. This preaching to all “nations” (literally, “peoples” or ethnic groups) still awaits completion. But great strides are being made, and not just by Americans. South Korea sends the 2nd largest number of missionaries, and may soon surpass the U.S. Let’s get the job done!
[In case you wonder what Paul meant in writing” All over the world this gospel is bearing fruit,” and “the gospel…has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven” (Col. 1:6,23), it seems to me the NIV Study Bible’s note gives a clear explanation. These statements are “hyperbole, to dramatize the rapid spread of the gospel into every quarter of the Roman empire within three decades of Pentecost (see Rom. 1:8; Rom. 10:18; Rom. 16:19 [& 15: 19b]). In refutation of the charge of the false teachers [in Colosse], Paul insists that the Christian faith is not merely local or regional but worldwide. “]
2) Jerusalem would be made desolate; then it would be trampled on by the Gentiles for some time (Luke 21:20, 24) before Jesus’ coming (v. 27).
3). Peter would become old and be martyred (John 21: 18-19). If so, the “rapture” could not occur while Peter was alive, for then he would never die! But Jesus said he would die.
4) The Lord commissioned Paul to go “far away to the Gentiles,” and later assured him that he would reach Rome and testify for Him there (Acts 22:21; Acts 23:11). Obviously He would not come for the church before those events occurred, for it would require Paul’s being left behind!
5) The church in Smyrna would suffer persecution and some of its members be imprisoned. (Rev. 2:10.) Could Christ come at “any time any day” before that imprisonment took place?
6) The Lord told His people in Thyatira that He would bring suffering on the false prophetess “Jezebel” and her followers there. “Then,” He said, “all the churches will know that I am he who searches hearts” (Rev. 2:22-23). Could He come for the church before fulfilling that prediction of His? (Most scholars agree these predictions in #5 and #6 were written in the 90s A.D.)
7) The [final] “abomination that causes desolation” would be set up in the holy place (Matt. 24:15, 21; Mark 13:14). That event will be the kickoff of the Great Tribulation. Christ’s “coming” and “gathering His elect” would occur afterwards. (Matt. 24:29-31. Compare the “coming” and “catching up” of Christians mentioned in 1 Thes. 4:15-17.)
8) The “lawless one will be revealed” (2 Thes. 2:3, 2 Thes. 2:8-9) before the Day of the Lord will come. And in the context of that passage, the Day of the Lord seems clearly to be the time of “the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him” (v. 1) as well as the time of His destroying the lawless one “by the splendor of His coming” (v.8). Paul doesn’t separate those two “comings” into widely-separated events, as some Bible teachers do.
So several events were predicted to occur during this age, before the Lord’s return. It would seem He could not return before they came to pass. We gladly admit that most of them have now been fulfilled. But the point is that until they were, His coming was not “imminent” in the any-day, any-moment sense. And numbers 1, 7 and 8 are still not fulfIlled. Can Christ come for us before they are?
[See article # 3 Two Differing Interpretations]